The U.S. Army currently uses two standard flechettes, comprising the 60-grain flechette and the 120-grain flechette. These flechettes are loaded into rocket warheads and are intended for use against personnel, material, equipment and aircraft. Flechettes carried by rocket warheads are especially advantageous when used by friendly aircraft against enemy aircraft. However, enemy aircraft are generally provided with light armor for protecting vital spots. Standard flechettes will not penetrate the armor, because the standard flechettes break into several pieces when the flechettes strike the hardened surface of the armor. The standard flechette construction utilizes a sharp nose point to achieve low air drag when the flechette is fired at a high velocity. However, the impact of the sharp nose point with hardened armor causes the point to break and initiates shock waves that break up the rest of the flechette, so that penetration is not achieved.
The standard flechette is also very expensive to fabricate. The standard flechette is generally made in one piece from tough hard medium carbon steel in the form of rod stock. The flechette has fins which are cold formed in a press at high pressure by very expensive dies which wear quickly. The sharply pointed nose is then machined by a separate operation.